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Rocky Road, perhaps the ice cream world’s very first flavor combo, is a tried-and-true classic that launched the ever-popular frozen dessert mix-in craze.
Rising to popularity in the 1920s, when the menu of most ice cream parlors comprised plain old chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, Rocky Road has a 200-year-old, cross-continental history involving the struggles of nations and their settlers — some pretty serious stuff for a delightful frozen treat.
Such sweet relief
In 1929, as the Great Depression gripped America, William Dreyer, co-founder of Dreyer’s Ice Cream, is said to have invented Rocky Road. The story goes that Dreyer, seeking a stress snack, used his wife’s sewing scissors to dice a marshmallow into a chocolate ice cream base sprinkled with walnuts. Impressed with his results, Dreyer and fellow ice cream titan Joseph Edy mass-produced this progressive flavor — swapping out walnuts for almonds — aiming to provide the ailing nation with a pleasant distraction from the “rocky road” ahead of them. However, a treat with similar ingredients had originated in Australia nearly a century earlier.
Inspirations from down under
Some culinary historians point to Dreyer’s dish as an alternate take on an Australian snack from the mid-1800s, indeed called “Rocky Road” by its makers.
The Aussie Rocky Road title is believed to be a reference to the settlers’ rough, cross-oceanic journey, and the harsh conditions facing those headed toward Australian gold fields. To keep vital snacks consumable, settlers mixed sweets, nuts, and dried fruits that had broken or begun to spoil during their voyage from Europe with rich chocolate, hiding any unpleasant tastes. The result was a cousin of our modern-day “trail mix.”
A textured title
Both concepts aside, the simplest and most logical explanation of the Rocky Road ice cream name is its visual resemblance to a muddy path with all sorts of bumps in it: Its marshmallows look like rocks, its nuts suggest broken knots and stumps of wood, and its chocolate base mimics a grass-free path of somehow delicious dirt. And like an actual soil road patched with natural debris, Rocky Road ice cream is always surprise terrain, with no telling what each deep spoonful may bring to the surface.
Rocky Road in all its glory
If you want to enjoy the finest Rocky Road, look to Harry & David and Cheryl’s to get your fill in both ice cream and cookie form.
Harry & David, in a nod to this vintage flavor, has developed Rocky Rogue Valley, an artisanal incarnation of the industry-wide favorite. Custom churned in small batches with fresh buttercream, then filled with chocolate chunks, crisp pecans, and dollops of marshmallows, the Harry & David Rocky Rogue Valley has its own title history: The Rogue Valley is the region where the Medford, Oregon-based Harry & David is located.
Cheryl’s, too, has designed a spin-off Rocky Road chocolate cookie featuring thick chocolate chips, gooey, bite-size marshmallows, and crisp roasted pecans. Each rich gourmet treat is well baked on the outside and soft in the middle, as well as individually wrapped and sealed for maximum freshness (and perfect preservation, should you tuck a few away in the freezer).
AUTHOR
A former arts and culture writer for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's Pulitzer Prize-winning Patriot News, Jonathan Rowe is a New York-based feature writer for SPIN, Men's Fitness, and WONDERLUST travel. He has crafted original content and news for Sony Music, Live Nation, Spotify, and ESPN, and works as a songwriter in conjunction with multiple Grammy winners.
